African football stars raise HIV awareness

Message on AFCON electronic scoreboard

Message on AFCON electronic scoreboard

South African President - Jacob Zuma, UNAIDS Executive Director - Michel Sidibé and Confederation of African Football (CAF) President - Issa Hayatou have launched the “Protect the Goal” initiative during the Orange Africa Cup of Nations in Johannesburg.

The UNAIDS “Protect the Goal” campaign aims to raise awareness of HIV and mobilise young people to commit to HIV prevention. Globally, an estimated 4.6 million young people (15-24 years of age) are living with HIV. About 2 300 young people are infected with HIV each day. Many young people living with HIV, who are eligible for treatment lack access or do not know their HIV status. The “Protect the Goal” campaign also stresses the need for ensuring all the 15 million people eligible for life-saving antiretroviral treatment can access it by 2015.

“Accelerating large-scale efforts for HIV prevention and treatment is imperative in Africa,” said President Jacob Zuma. “With strong leadership from government and community support, South Africa is showing results and its commitment to ending AIDS.”

As part of the “Protect the Goal” campaign, UNAIDS and its partners are disseminating HIV prevention messages on large electronic screens to football fans in all stadiums where the Africa Cup of Nations football games are taking place. The captains of each of the teams participating in the games read a statement calling on players, football fans and young people to support the campaign. The “Protect the Goal” campaign will continue until the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

“Football appeals so much to young people and I am thrilled to have such a groundswell of support from the stars of African soccer,” said UNAIDS Executive Director - Michel Sidibé. “I know this is just the start of an astonishing campaign which will generate much enthusiasm among fans all the way to Rio 2014.”

“We are extremely happy to support UNAIDS in their efforts to roll out this campaign across the continent,” said President of the Confederation of African Football – Issa Hayatou. “Our teams are committed to an Africa where AIDS is no longer a threat.”

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners to maximise results for the AIDS response.